Toronto

Hamilton is rebranding — and not as a bedroom community

Hey Toronto: Hamilton wants to be your business partner, not your bedroom community.

May 13, 2013

The sensitive topic came up repeatedly on the first day of the cheekily named Hamilton Consulate event on Queen Street West, which is using panel discussions, music, fashion showcases and even business-oriented speed dating to “rebrand” the city in the eyes of Toronto investors.

The city’s white-hot real estate market was a popular talking point — particularly a local realtor’s study that suggests priced-out Toronto residents were responsible for a quarter of Hamilton home sales in the first three months of the year.

But well-known GTA developer Brad Lamb, an event panellist who has pitched a 600-unit, two-tower condo project on the former CHCH property, found himself clarifying quotes attributed to him in a Toronto magazine declaring Hamilton is destined to become a “suburb to Toronto.”

The self-proclaimed Toronto condo king told concerned Hamilton boosters he was taken out of context.

August 14, 2007

“I would never call Hamilton a bedroom community. I don’t develop in bedroom communities … I like Hamilton because it’s a city,” said Lamb, who added he is considering four possible Hamilton condo and rental projects in the downtown worth more than $1 billion, including at least one 300-unit tower on Main Street.

(He said his other contentious quote about a “dying city” was meant to refer to Hamilton as a past industrial powerhouse.)

Lamb, nonetheless, maintains newcomers to Hamilton who continue to work in Toronto will be “part of the recipe of success” for the growing city. That continued population growth — he sees Hamilton topping a million people faster than provincial projections — is also critical for economic development, he argued.

“Intercity migration is going to take place. Some of those people are going to have great jobs in Toronto and they’re going to keep those jobs … I think that is a viable lifestyle, especially with the GO train,” he said.

City planning head Jason Thorne said there’s no doubt there will be “more fluidity between where people live and work in future.”

But he argued Hamilton is “in no danger” of becoming a suburb of Toronto. He said past studies show only a “pretty small fraction” of local commuters actually travel outside the Hamilton-Burlington area. (Continued: Hamilton Spectator)

John Tory ‘encouraged’ by Kathleen Wynne’s words on housing

Toronto Mayor John Tory was sounding somewhat mollified on Monday after meeting with Premier Kathleen Wynne, just days after announcing she’s rejecting the city’s request to put tolls on the Gardiner Expressway and Don Valley Parkway.

Speaking to reporters after the hour-long meeting at Queen’s Park, Wynne hinted at a willingness to boost provincial funding for Toronto’s affordable housing needs.

2007

Tory said he’d pressed the housing issue during the meeting.

“I stressed again, now more than ever, that the province must immediately come to the table to address our city’s social housing crisis,” Tory told a news conference at City Hall on Monday. “I was certainly very firm, again, that we need that help, that some of the most vulnerable people in our city need that help.”

Based on discussions in Ottawa last week, Tory said he is confident the federal government will put “substantial funding” for housing in its upcoming budget. He wants the province to match that money.

In a separate news conference at Queen’s Park, Wynne referred to her “recognition for the need for increased housing support,” but stopped short of promising money.

“We need a three-way partnership on affordable housing — the municipality, the province and the federal government working together as we move into this budget cycle,” she said.

Tory said he was encouraged by Wynne’s message.

“I found that a significant step forward because I’m not sure that I’ve heard those words said before,” Tory said.

Wynne meets Tory on an almost-monthly basis. Monday’s meeting had been scheduled well in advance of last week’s announcement about tolls.

The pair usually hold a photo opportunity inside Wynne’s office as their meeting wraps up, then a joint news conference. This time, the cameras were not allowed inside, the pair shook hands quickly outside Wynne’s door, then Tory departed for City Hall. It created the appearance of a less-chummy-than-normal get-together. (Source: CBC)

Blue Jays beer-tossing incident: Who threw that brew?

Amateur sleuths have joined Toronto police in the investigation into who threw a can of beer that narrowly missed Baltimore Orioles outfielder Hyun Soo Kim at the Rogers Centre on Tuesday.

But, while police have named their suspect, the Internet is not so sure.

On Wednesday, police released a photo of an unnamed man who they said was the beer-thrower. That man turned out to be Ken Pagan, a journalist who works for Postmedia.

Pagan acknowledged being the man in the photo.

“I contacted Toronto police earlier this evening, around 7 p.m., and identified myself as the person in the photo,” Pagan wrote Wednesday night in an email to The Canadian Press, adding he “cannot say much else.”

That’s when the Internet kicked in with videos shared on Reddit and YouTube.

Starting from a wide-angle shot showing section 139 of the Rogers Centre, one video shows a silver streak crossing the frame. While it’s impossible to identify any faces in the video, Pagan is clearly identifiable when the grainy images are cross-referenced with photos shot by Canadian Press photographer Frank Gunn.

“Fairly clear video of him throwing it backhanded like a Frisbee,” wrote Twitter user Melanie Harrington.

Case closed?

Not quite.

Other photos of Pagan show him holding a plastic cup, not a can of beer.

Then more video surfaced, in which some people claim to see a woman hurling the brew before disappearing from the scene.

Both videos are so grainy, it’s almost impossible to deduce what is taking place exactly.

ther photos show a hole in the crowd just behind and to Pagan’s left, which some argued was the real thrower’s location. They suggest the villain ducked out of sight as soon as the sudsy shot was fired.

In the style of the infamous Zapruder film, both videos of the flying drink are grainy and difficult to make out.

Const. Jenifferjit Sidhu said Toronto police would not comment on the conflicting theories.

“However, we are confident we have made a positive ID and we will continue to work with the Rogers Centre to further the investigation‎,” Sidhu wrote in an email to the Star.

As of early Thursday afternoon, there was no word on charges against Pagan. (Source: Toronto Star)

As conventions come and go it’s nice to take stock and review the highlights of such events. This past weekend’s gathering of the Association of Canadian Cartoonists in Toronto was packed full of great venues and intriguing discussions. Tip of the hat goes to Wes Tyrell, whose energy and passion fuelled the conference like no other before this. Here are some of the sights and delights of #ACC2016.

Ryerson University

Gathering with cartoonists and willingly herding ourselves into classrooms should go quite counter to our very beings. Doubly amazing is the fact that even with a table full of Tim Horton’s coffee and baked items in the back of the classroom, nary a trouble maker abandoned themselves from the stimulating talks to linger around near the exit. During the Friday sessions we were updated by free expression champions CNRI Dan Murphy, crocodile Nik Kowsar, and No-Fly Shahid Mahmood. Preservation superhero Christian Vachon reported on the repatriation chronology of a hoard of Duncan MacPherson cartoons from an American college to the permanent collection of the McCord Gallery in Montreal. Robert LaFontaine extolled the virtues of Quebec’s 1001 Visage Caricature festival, which won over the crowd, and will play host to the next gathering of the ACC in 2018.

Beginning the Saturday morning session a passionate trio of fine art scholars, Josée Desforges, Julie-Anne Godin-Laverdiere, Nancy Perron Rogers, and Professor Dominic Hardy of UQAM dove into a facsinating presentation on Quebec illustration, and in particular, how art influences cartoons. One of the students recalled the time in 1965, when a Department Store donated to a Montreal shopping centre an exact replica of Michelangelo‘s Statue of David. There was a public outcry from some people, and a public debate ensued about the appropriateness of such a display of male nudity in a shopping plaza. Veteran Toronto cartoonist Mike Constable made a rare appearance and showed off some of his quirky digital animations. Philip Burke took to the stage after a slick short documentary of his life made its debut. The amazing Buffalo born illustrator whose art has graced Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, and Time, to name a few answered a few questions in advance of his afternoon live painting at the Bedford Academy (see below). Ann Telnaes of the Washington Post and Jack (P-word) Ohman of the Sacromento Bee showed their work reflecting the state of U.S. politics with everything Donald Trump, and presented some of their animations. Jack’s very personal long form comic strip chronicled his dad’s final years and left many eyes in the room wet.

My little YouTube Movie “The Life of An Editorial Cartoonist” made this venue its world public premiere

And this delightful video by the wonderful and clever Dan Murphy, made its debut,

Zoomer Studios, Liberty Village

Friday afternoon was spent at Moses Znaimer‘s Zoomerplex in the west end where the topic of editorial cartoonists and the work that we do was featured for an upcoming issue. The show was moderated by Faith Goldy, peppered with the commentary of her sidekick, and longtime target of satire, Lord Conrad Black, Baron of Crossharbour. Pictured below at the Zoomer roundtable are L-R: Sue Dewar (Toronto Sun), Conrad Black, Terry Mosher (Montreal Gazette), Faith Goldy, Wes Tyrell (Zoomer Mag & ACC President), Michael de Adder (Halifax Chronicle Herald), Andy Donato (Toronto Sun), and Malcolm Mayes (Edmonton Journal). A game of musical chairs happened in-between ads when visiting U.S. cartoonists, Jack Ohman (Sacramento Bee), Kevin Kallaugher (Baltimore Sun), and Ann Telnaes (Washington Post) added their own take on politics to the south as the 2016 appears to be shaping up to be a Hillary Clinton vs. Donald Trump contest.

Royal Ontario Museum

Our Friday evening was spent at the big old building on University Avenue famous for its ancient mummies and Grecian urns. It began with a nicely attended public panel called Drawing the Line: Conversations on Press Freedoms. It included two of North America’s great editorial cartoonists, Canada’s Brian Gable of the Globe & Mail, and from the United States, Kevin (Kal) Kallaugher of the Baltimore Sun, and the Economist magazine. Both presented slide shows of their past cartoons and even gave the audience some how-to-draw lessons. Brian taught the gathering how to draw Justing Trudeau, Kevin meanwhile showed the amused crowd how to draw Donald Trump. The third panelist was Mohamed Fahmy who drew nothing, because he had to make a hasty exit, in order to catch a flight… the next morning. If he stayed around he could have joined convention attendees who made their way down the hall to the museum atrium which had been turned into a nightclub where music boomed and food and cocktails lubed the assembled partiers. The theme of the night was called “Punchline” and it featured a recurring show of our editorial cartoons projected on a wall opposite the Futalognkosaurus skeleton. See the short clip below to get a feel for this unique event.

For a sense of our evening entertainment here’s a YouTube clip filmed by Wes Tyrell from “Punchline” featuring the work of cartoonists

Philip Burke at the Bedford Academy

What a treat ACC convention attendees experienced when the the upstairs of the Bedford Academy of Yorkville became the venue for a Saturday afternoon show by Philip Burke who painted a spectacular portrait of Wes Tyrell. All the while, we downed pints and ate finger foods while Philip worked his magic and Wes had to sit very still, for 4 hours. This moment was the culmination of year long blossoming friendship by the two that all began because of a simple FB compliment Wes delivered to Philip after being dazzled by the works on exhibit at Buffalo’s Burchfield Penney Art Centre from April 10 – September 13, 2015. Philip’s a very kind soul and is the latest illustrator to associate himself with a group which was traditionally been made up of just editorial cartoonists. He joins other notables such as Anita Kunz, Barry Blitt, and Matt Diffee, as an effort to broaden our scope to involve more like-minded satire artists. All part of the reason we now call ourselves the ACC, formerly the ACEC, the Association of Canadian Editorial Cartoonists.

Encapsulating the afternoon here’s another YouTube clip by Nik Kowsar

The Bata Shoe Museum

The final evening of the Toronto convention was spent across from the Bloor Street hotel at the Bata Shoe Museum. There, Premier Kathleen Wynne and her partner Jane Rounthwaite joined in to celebrate the lifetime careers of Andy Donato, of the Toronto Sun, and Terry Mosher of the Montreal Gazette. Newspaper big wigs including Andrew Phillips, Lorrie Goldstein joined Post Media grand poobah Paul Godfrey to toast the combined 100 years worth of cartoon stardom. Wes Tyrell, on the eve of his being reappointed for a record 3rd term as Association President wore a splendid pac-man styled suit, which was warmly acknowledged by the Premier in her opening remarks. The occasion was also used to announce the 2016 winner of the ACC Townsie award. Dale Cummings won for his english language submissions, while Christian (Fleg) Daigle won for his French language entry. The final hours were spent trying on some of the wacky shoes and making the most of a tremendous convention. Hats off to Wes and the Toronto team for a great job. Now looking forward to Val David in 2018.

Donato’s 50 years of work celebrated – even by premier

Wynne says she holds no grudges for criticisms

Veteran Toronto Sun cartoonist Andy Donato draws it the way he sees it.

In one of his memorable pieces, Donato drew Hamilton East voters with “butt heads” after the city re-elected then-beleaguered Liberal MP Sheila Copps in 1988.

The mayor of Steeltown threw a fit and immediately got on the horn with Postmedia’s CEO Paul Godfrey, who was publisher of the Toronto Sun at the time.

“He said, ‘Mr. Godfrey, it’s the mayor. Your paper with that guy Donato embarrassed us like never before. I know how many calls I’ve had. I know how many calls I’m getting. I want Donato fired and a pledge that you’ll never do that again to the people of Hamilton,’” Godfrey recalled Saturday night at the Bata Shoe Museum, where Donato was honoured for his 50 years of work.

When Godfrey and the mayor agreed to speak off the record, Godfrey asked if he thought the cartoon was funny.

“He basically said, ‘You promise you won’t tell anyone? I found it hilarious,’” he said, as Godfrey’s audience erupted in laughter. “I told him, ‘When you hang up, you tell your people you called me as the publisher of the newspaper and you demanded all those things. That will let you off the hook.’ He hung up. Two minutes later, he calls back. ‘When this fury does down, can I get your original?’”

The Association of Canadian Cartoonists honoured Donato, 79, and prolific Montreal cartoonist Terry Mosher by presenting them with personalized hockey jerseys.

“It’s a great honour,” Donato said at the awards ceremony. “I’m just kind of knocked out that the premier is here. I’ve been tough on her and she’s a delight. That’s the problem with this business is we attack these people. I’m still going to criticize her, but that’s part of the job.”

Donato said he is proud of the aforementioned Hamilton cartoon, but also the drawing of “The American Dream” in 1979, depicting the soldiers raising the Iwo Jima flag from the backside of Ayatollah Khomeini, which won an award as best editorial cartoon in the world the following year.

“We had posters printed out, it was on T-shirts,” he said. “All the customs guys at the airport had buttons.”

King Wes Tyrell

Wes Tyrell, president of the Association of Canadian Cartoonists, said Donato continues to thrive, even in the digital age.

“He has been able to consistently deliver when many careers for many other cartoonists would last for five or 10 years, Andy has proved he is trans-generational,” Tyrell said. “That’s not an easy thing. That’s an element that gets a lot of respect from cartoonists.”

Premier Kathleen Wynne expressed gratitude for editorial cartoonists.

“I will just start by saying, I hold no grudges,” she said. “The work you do is so important. It does make us laugh, but I know you’re very serious about what you do. You’re speaking truth to power and your cartoons really capture where we’re at as a society.” (Source: Toronto Sun)

Cartoonists from across Canada and the United States are gathering in Toronto for a weekend convention celebrating, obsessing, and worrying about the future of their craft. We’ve done this every two years in almost every major city in Canada, including my hosting in Hamilton. The last one in 2014 was our first foray outside the mainland when we touched down in Havana Cuba. While it’ll be tall order to top the palm trees and salsa dancing of Cuba, the charm and skills of Wes Tyrell, the event organizer, is sure to please all in attendance. Wes is depicted in the above drawing in the bottom right hand corner. He single handedly organized our Cuba visit, and now herds the people who’ll host cartoonists in the centre of the universe.

We cartoonists are a solitary breed, and while social media has kept many of us in close contact outside of these conferences, nothing quite matches the benefits and camaraderie that comes with these rare get-togethers. It’s impossible not to notice how our numbers have shrunk with every passing convention as colleagues lose their jobs, retire, or pass away. There will be those forecasting the death of the newspaper industry within the next 5 years, as has always been stated with every convention I’ve attended for the last 2 decades. Old faces will make appearances, new people will be introduced, the association will persevere, and after we wrap up we’ll all go home energized and optimistic about the work we do.

For a look at our schedule of events surf on by the website of the Association of Canadian Cartoonists.